Joanne (of Joanne and Spud) Came for a Visit!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

For months, Joanne and I have been trying to plan a date for her to come visit.  Time after time, Joanne had come up with some lame excuse after another to get out of visiting…..we had an ice storm….the roads are closed due to snow….I promise I will come soon…..until I finally took matters into my own hands.  Right after she gave me a date in May, I invited the same group that met Camilla to meet us again at the same location.  I know we all caught Joanne unawares when we started bombarding her with plans about the “meet-up.”  I could tell she was super excited from the way she responded, “I actually forgot I said I was coming.” So, let that be a lesson for all of you. If you say you are coming, you will be coming, even if I have to use coercion and shaming tactics. Don’t try to lead me on or let me down easily with gentle changes of plans or sad excuses about why you won’t be able to come.  She really had no choice and knew I was one step away from going to Ohio and bringing her back to my house.

 

Most of you know by now, I would never say anything bad about another DoodleKisses member or tell tales out of school, BUT our last visitor almost ate us out of house and home.  If that wasn’t bad enough, she then posted an alarming video that made me look half crazed when photographing my dogs with bubbles.  Since this is a dog website, all I will say is once bitten, twice shy, and I am now asking visitors to sign a confidentiality agreement and limiting meals/snacks to three a day.  I hesitate to name names….CAMILLA, CAMILLA, CAMILLA…but several times, I barely got the words, “Camilla, would you like another,” out of my mouth before she swooped in and grabbed whatever food item I had just mentioned. I can only liken it to a bird of prey with talons swooping in for the kill.  After a while, with the Sand Tarts, I just tossed them at her for fear I would lose a hand if I did not react quickly enough. Thankfully, I never caught Joanne filming anything and compared to Camilla, she barely ate anything, but she was a gal that liked her coffee and if there is one thing Joanne does not need it is a stimulant.  Joanne has enough energy for five people and a razor sharp mind that goes a mile a minute.  She can be talking about the Polar Vortex one minute, listing the birds she is watching out the window, bark at Vern, pet Fudge, make a cup of coffee, and change her clothes three times before I can get the words “Joanne, have you ever thought about giving up coffee and switching to Chamomile tea?” out of my mouth. I was going to hide the coffee mugs, but I was afraid she would just stop at the coffee maker and drink directly from the coffee dispenser valve to get her caffeine fix (I learned my lesson with Doris) and since John is phobic about people drinking out of his cup, which I imagine applies to coffee dispenser valves too, I just gave her a mug.  

 

Joanne was very smart when she arrived at our house. I warned her that the dogs would bark at her, but when I let them out of the house to greet her, I didn’t hear a peep. Instead, they were lined up in front of her as she dispensed her famous, homemade liver treats she had stashed in her jean’s pocket.  She should make these treats for a living, because they are like crack for my dogs.  Since it was after 7 pm, we opted to go to the Old People’s diner, knowing full well we would have missed the mad dinner rush, since at this place that happens around 4 pm.  We didn’t want to overwhelm our guest the first night she was at our house with too much excitement, but what will become apparent as this blog goes on is that was not a problem during her visit.  The other thing I would like to note is the loyalty of my dog, Fudge.  As I have said over and over, Fudge is my girl.  I thought no one ranked higher than me in Fudge’s eyes, but very early on Saturday morning, I found out I was wrong.  After I take the dogs out, Fudge always comes back to bed with me for a little more sleep and some snuggles, except when Joanne is in town, apparently.  As we walked by Joanne’s bedroom door, my little chocolate traitor dog changed directions and went in with Joanne.  For my ego’s sake, I am telling myself that Joanne was most likely waving around a Polish Kielbasa and had been up all night rigging up some kind of Piñata, probably out of a sock and a water bottle, and filled it with those dog-luring liver treats. 

 

On Saturday, we went out on the boat, shopped, went to dinner, and walked the dogs, which in my world, is a hectic and exhausting day.  Combine all that with the fact that Joanne tried to tip the waiter at the restaurant like she was in a Magic Mike movie and I had spent the week stupidly exhausting myself for her visit and it all just caught up with me on Saturday night.  We did all have a good laugh when Joanne commented that the waiter’s pockets were almost too tight to get the tip into and John said, “That wasn’t a pocket.”  Nevertheless, I have no excuse for treating a traveled guest so shabbily and promptly falling asleep on Saturday night by 9 pm.  Poor Joanne had gone into her room to edit some photos and said she saw me post a comment on FB that I was going to sleep. Imagine Tigger, from Winnie the Pooh, walking into an Eeyore convention and you should be able to feel the excitement Joanne must have been feeling on Saturday night at our house. On most nights, we all separate at 8 pm and do our own thing, and my thing is watching TV and turning on the computer in our bedroom with Fudge beside me.  Fudge let me know on Friday night by continually pacing that I was off schedule, so I am going to blame Saturday night all on Fudge keeping me to our schedule.  Joanne was trapped, she felt, in the guest bedroom and could have called for help if she knew someone in PA, but other than that, even if she had passed notes out from under her door asking if she was allowed to leave her room, none of us would have seen them until Sunday morning.  I was so tired that night that Joanne could have come into my room, playing a kazoo, and tried to put a tip in John’s pants and I would not have cared, nor would I have awakened.

 

Luckily, I think we made up for our neglect on Sunday when we met F, Janie and Tom, and Cheryl, at a park in PA.  Joanne got to meet five Doodles: Finnegan, Luca, Calla, Jilly, and Jackson, and once again those liver treats scored major points with all of them. Those five dogs are some of the best dogs I have ever met.  Jilly looks like someone stuck Fudge in the dryer and shrunk her and she has the same kind of feisty spirit. 

The Pounce! Jilly prepares to give Finn a hug :)

She is the smallest Doodle, at 27 pounds, I have ever seen, and now I want a Jilly.  Jackson is laid back and adorable and just an all around sweet boy.  His coloring was gorgeous and when he got tired, he just laid down quietly as if to say, “I would like to go home, but I can wait.” 

Waiting so patiently....Jackson!

Finnegan is in love with Jilly and it showed.  He had a bit of swagger about him that day and was such a happy and confident dog. I think Cheryl has a little competition in Jilly, because our last visit he only had eyes for Cheryl, but this visit you could tell he was so pleased to have Jilly there.

Finnegan, What a lover boy you are!!

Could I go play with Jilly now?

Luca is such a comical imp.  His spirit is infectious and he loves his toys, but just watch out when you are demonstrating one of your favorite squeaky photo props.  I tried F’s “leave it” command, but Luca, more or less, said, “F who?” and stole it right out of my hands.  Luca makes you laugh and I love a funny dog.

Sure, he looks sweet here as I play my Kazoo for him!

But, watch out when you show him something that squeaks!

Calla is perfection with the most beautiful eyes ever seen on a dog and has the sweetest nature.  She is the Grace Kelly of the Doodle World.  She loves her mama and was far more loyal to F than Fudge was to me when Joanne took Luca and Calla for a walk.  In fact, she made it clear that her place was with F when she came flying back to camp sans Joanne and Luca.

Gorgeous Calla says, "This ain't HOKUM....I love my mommy!"

Prior to our meet up, there had been approximately 50 emails flying back and forth between all of us about what food we would be bringing and who was making the sandwiches.  Last time we all met, at Camilla’s visit, Cheryl had made the most delicious sandwiches and volunteered to do them again, but F was concerned about Cheryl’s schedule and didn’t want to have her fuss.  Frankly, I thought, “big whoop…Cheryl has a full plate…well, I want a full plate of sandwiches,” but I went ahead, for the sake of peace and harmony, and suggested we all bring our own sandwiches.  Joanne and I had all kinds of ideas about showing up with t-shirts that said something like…. Got Sandwich?.....Give me my sandwich and nobody gets hurt….Show me the sandwich… and for Joanne, since she has a propensity for falling at picnics….I’ve fallen and I need a sandwich or I’ve fallen, can you hand me my sandwich?

Cheryl, I want my sandwich!!

Sadly, Cheryl did not have extra sandwiches, but I forgave her when she walked towards me with a Victoria’s Secret bag and said it was for me for my birthday.  Despite the bag being heavier than lingerie, John was hopeful that something good was inside. I’m not saying John thinks my underwear are heavy, but I will say if you were playing that game where the answer was “Laurie’s underwear” and someone asked, “is it bigger than a bread box?” John would probably say, “may I see the bread box before answering?”

Before I got Fudge, I never dreamed that I would be so lucky to meet some of the most wonderful people in the world from an Internet group called DoodleKisses. What could make anyone’s birthday more special than a visit from Joanne, a meet up with wonderful friends and their Doodles, and some of the loveliest Birthday gifts and cards from my Doodle friends? Joanne was exactly like she is on DoodleKisses…funny, warm, insightful, crazy, nice, goofy, and just plain fun. Years ago, when Fudge wasn’t too old and I was worried about her style of play, I had called Joanne for advice and felt so much better after talking to her.  I have never forgotten her kindness for a stranger and I would have never imagined that one day she would be sitting in my living room on Vern’s bed, with Vern trying to figure out how to get her to move. Fudge just wanted her to pet her and sidled up to her every chance she got, performed a perfect sit next to her leg, pawed the air repeatedly, and all but said, “you traveled all this way just to pet me, right?”  Joanne was very accommodating and I hope she wants to come back.  Hopefully, I can stay awake next visit.

Sadly, when the picnic was over, Joanne left to go back home.  I know she arrived safely, but we aren’t exactly sure how she got there. I sent her on her way with MapQuest directions and helped her program her GPS.  She was supposed to head northwest, but at one point, was going due south.  There is more to this story, I think, and someday I will find out all the answers.  I also know before she left, she did say since I spent so much time cleaning for her visit, I was never getting an invitation to her house.  I guess she still doesn’t understand how I work.  You won’t be able to stop me, Joanne. After all, I finally got you to Pennsylvania, didn’t I?

P.S. Camilla and I discussed her paragraph. She was happily adding comments, so no DK'er was hurt in the making of this blog :)

More photos! Group shot courtesy of F's Photoshop skills.

We needed help with the group shot, because clearly we do not recognize a Pack Leader.

F and John....siblings, maybe??

Laurie and Joanne and Luca

F's look after I unveiled my bikini ;) Janie holding Jackson! She had to look away after I commented on her bikini shot on FB and let her know there was a new gal in town!!

Joanne, F, and Finnegan!

I'll do anything to get that shot! A gift from Joanne!

Tom, Janie's husband, our photographer!

I couldn't find many Janie shots where she was looking at the camera....Tom said Cheryl was the only one who listened to the photographer. What does Tom know? LOL

Cheryl proving Tom may be right!

F's CALENDAR SHOT for the Lotsa Doodle's calendar!  It's OK to say the C word in a blog, right?

and just for fun...Joanne and Hayley on the boat!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Donna had better not be leading us on....LOL!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Gotcha Donna. Sounds good. When are there whales. I know we asked before but some of us are old : )

[F, Calla & Luca]

Seriously, if we don't plan it we'll never go.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Joanne, I think you are on to something. Sounds good to me. Road trip....I drive :)

F, I'm in :)

Donna, I want to come when the whales are there. On my bucket list!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Summer in Newfoundland not spring.  

[Bonnie and Kona]

I am ready! C'mon down!

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Joanne, good idea!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Next spring, late spring : ), Newfoundland.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

F, I am going with you to all these places when you go :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Instead of traveling to Mexico ( ugh, personally no thanks) we should start traveling to  Newfoundland, Hawaii, and all these destinations to meet our DK friends